About $12.74 million in taxpayer funds are at risk in a foreclosure lawsuit over a shopping center in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood.

Miami-Dade County and its Task Force on Urban Economic Revitalization filed a foreclosure lawsuit April 9 against Peninsula Edison Plaza and guarantor Otis Pitts Jr. According to a copy of the complaint, it concerns a leasehold mortgage of $7.2 million. Assistant County Attorney Thomas H. Robertson said the funds came from a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 108 loan.

In addition, Peninsula Edison Plaza received a $3.4 million loan from the City of Miami, a $1.14 million community development block grant from the county and a $1 million loan from the Miami-Dade Empowerment Trust, which later assigned it to the county.

Peninsula Edison Plaza has a long-term lease on the property, at 635 N.W. 62nd St. (Martin Luther King Boulevard), from Edison Marketplace Group. The county’s foreclosure lawsuit seeks to assume control of the lease, but it cannot seize the property.

In 2007, Peninsula Edison Plaza completed a 79,942-square-foot shopping center there. Tenants include Family Dollar Store and Neighbors Food Store & Deli. The county financed the project because there were not enough retailers in the neighborhood and the area badly needed jobs.

In addition to alleging that Peninsula Edison Plaza has not made payments under the county’s mortgage or the property lease, the county’s complaint states that the developer has failed to submit its financial statements to the county for the years 2008 through 2011. The developer also failed to create 206 jobs with at least 51 percent held by persons of low or moderate income – as required in the construction loan, the complaint stated.

The lawsuit asks that a receiver be appointed to manage the property. However, the county would be responsible for making lease payments if the developer still cannot.

The flea market has about 180 booths and an adult arcade, where games pay out gifts, instead of cash. It was built in 1981.

West Atlantic Commercial obtained an $8 million mortgage on the property in 2006. According to CMBS analysis firm Trepp LLC, the mortgage has $7.4 million outstanding and matured in December.

The Carnival Flea Market generated $573,385 in operating income on revenue of $1.26 million in 2010, according to Trepp. That was not enough to pay its mortgage without outside assistance. Trepp noted that the lender has put a foreclosure and a potential loan modification on a dual track.

West Palm Beach office plaza in foreclosure

The Northpoint Business Plaza in West Palm Beach has been targeted for foreclosure.

EL-SNPR Notes Holdings, an affiliate of San Antonio-based Lynd Co., filed a foreclosure lawsuit against B.A. & R. Investments, along with managing members Peter Bejusca, John Ardelean and Marcel Rif. It concerns a mortgage issued for $7.4 million in 2005 by Lehman Brothers Holdings and sold in 2011 to the plaintiff.

The borrower purchased the four buildings at 901 Northpoint Parkway for $9.8 million in 2005. They total 80,749 square feet on 5.2 acres. They were constructed in 1989.

Space in Northpoint Business Plaza is advertised online at $9 to $11 a square foot. The online listing says 49,019 square feet are available for lease.

Miami attorney Stacey Soloff, who represents EL-SNPR in the lawsuit, said that the plaintiff attorneys are in talks with the defendants.

Peter Reed, principal with Boca Raton-based Commercial Florida Realty Services, said Northpoint was developed by Fort Lauderdale-based Stiles Corp. That submarket off 45th Street has had trouble during the recession, and it is usually one of the last to recover, he added.

BB&T targets Greenacres office building

Branch Bank & Trust Co. wants to seize an office building in Greenacres.

The bank (NYSE: BBT) filed a foreclosure lawsuit April 9 against David Associates 201 LLC, along with managing members Alfred Marulli Jr. and Barbara Marulli. It targets the 22,624-square-foot office building at 6803 Lake Worth Road. It was built in 2008 on 1.25 acres.

The mortgage on the property was originally issued by Colonial Bank, which failed and had its assets acquired by BB&T. That mortgage was last modified at $4.4 million in 2010 with a maturity date of Nov. 15, 2011. Marulli also had an unsecured $432,624 loan from BB&T.

Marulli and other David Associates entities own a handful of properties in Palm Beach County, including the larger office building next door at 6801 Lake Worth Road, an office building at 1700 N. Dixie Highway in Boca Raton and an office building at 224 Datura St. in West Palm Beach. None of those properties are in foreclosure.

U.S. Century Bank wins $4.6M foreclosure

U.S. Century Bank could take control of a stalled home development project in the Goulds community in southern Miami-Dade County after winning a $4.6 million foreclosure judgment.

The Doral-based bank won the judgment against Hammock Gardens LLC, along with managing members Luis Rabell and Mayra Rabell, over a $3.4 million mortgage, plus interest and fees. The 47 vacant home sites on the north side of Bailes Road at Southwest 115th Court are set for online auction May 15.

The project was to be called Bailes Commons.

Lauderdale Lakes office building headed to auction

An office building in Lauderdale Lakes is headed to auction after its owner lost a $3.9 million foreclosure judgment.

FirstBank Puerto Rico (NYSE: FBP), which also does business as FirstBank Florida, won the judgment against Lauderdale Lakes Office Corp. and President Marie-Christine Pham over a $2.4 million mortgage, plus interest and fees. The 38,167-square-foot office building, at 4000 N. State Road 7, is set for online auction May 10.

The building was finished in 1975 and purchased by Lauderdale Lakes Office Corp. in 2005 for $3.2 million.

TradeZone Distribution Center surrendered to bank

The TradeZone Distribution Center in Doral was handed over to an affiliate of Israel Discount Bank in a $2.8 million deed in lieu of foreclosure.

The bank filed a foreclosure lawsuit in 2009 against TZ Holdings over the nine unsold commercial condos totaling 41,949 square feet. TZ Holdings, which is managed by Bernardo Kopel, gave the property, at 2700 N.W. 112th Ave., over to bank affiliate IDB Property Holdings in exchange for releasing the mortgage and dropping the lawsuit.

The entire TradeZone Distribution Center has 32 commerical condo units in three buildings.

12000 Biscayne office escapes foreclosure

The foreclosure lawsuit over the seven-story office building at 12000 Biscayne Blvd. in North Miami was withdrawn after a New York investor bought the distressed mortgage.

Wells Fargo Bank, representing the CMBS trust, filed a foreclosure lawsuit in July against Brandon of B LLC over a $12.9 million mortgage. It targeted the 150,924-square-foot office building constructed in 1982 on 3.1 acres.

On March 29, the CMBS trust sold the mortgage to 12000 Biscane Blvd LLC, an affiliate of New York-based Corinthian Communications. The foreclosure lawsuit was then withdrawn.

Trepp LLC reported that the building was 50 percent occupied in June 2011. The loan sale was described to Trepp as a “discounted payoff.” The building was recently appraised at $9.85 million, Trepp reported.

Boca Raton office sale resolves foreclosure

The Courtyard office building in Boca Raton escaped foreclosure after it was sold for enough to repay its mortgage.

Branch Banking & Trust Co. (NYSE: BBT) filed a foreclosure lawsuit in 2011 against Coneca Properties over a mortgage with $5.03 million outstanding. The loan had matured.

Marcus & Millichip announced that the 71,820-square-foot building at 5301 N. Federal Highway was sold for $6.25 million, or $87 per square foot. VP Douglas Mandel and senior associate Benjamin Silver were the listing agents for the seller. The buyer, Royale Courtyard Properties LLC, was a local investor and will upgrade the building, they said. That company is managed by Marc Widger.

Palm Beach Gardens-based Enterprise Bank of Florida financed the acquisition with a $4.5 million mortgage.

“The property is currently 42 percent occupied with below market rents, providing strong upside potential,” Mandel said in a news release. “The local leasing market is averaging occupancy rates of 87 percent and average lease rate of $25.57 per square foot.”

Built in 1983, it has an atrium with indoor fountains, ponds and tropical walkways.

Coneca Properties bought the building for $9 million in 1999.

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